


Count to Eight

by pyropinkfish



Series: Politics and Omegas; Hamilton ABO [22]
Category: Hamilton - Miranda
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Character Death, F/M, Gen, Omegaverse, beta!eacker, beta!eliza, blow us all away and stay alive, did i say downgrade the sad, gendered slurs, good dad hamilton, he tries and fails and also dies, hes doin his best, i meant upgrade to a fuck ton, i think, omega!hamilton, omega!philip, philip just wants to make daddy proud, sad fic, this made my editor cry like a lil bitch
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-25
Updated: 2016-07-25
Packaged: 2018-07-26 16:34:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,331
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7581676
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pyropinkfish/pseuds/pyropinkfish
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Philip Dies - Always Sunny Card Flashes Across the Screen" </p><p>Just your outstanding omega living to the impossible standards his father put before him, trying to prove a point to the world he's just as good as his old man, and being an omega won't stop him. Eacker's just your average beta asshole. Two men one bullet. Etc etc. </p><p>Now with sad omegan father Hamilton being a Good Dad TM because that's my kink and don't shame it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Count to Eight

**Author's Note:**

> So I changed a line that's really important to know the context before instead of after. Instead of "your father's a scoundrel, and so it seems are you," Eacker historically calls Philip a “damned rascal,” which was hella insulting, especially for the 1800s: RASCAL. A rogue or villain: a term borrowed from the chase; a rascal originally meaning a lean shabby deer, at the time of changing his horns, penis, &c. whence, in the vulgar acceptation, rascal is conceived to signify a man without genitals…. Some derive it from RASCAGLIONE, an Italian word signifying a man. without testicles, or an eunuch.
> 
> Given the context of ABO, calling a male omega a rascal is invalidating and layered with offensiveness! Woot woot.

Taking a walk by yourself as an omega could be considered risky, it was certainly bold, but Philip had no problems facing those of a higher status and keeping toe to toe intellectually and physically. In fact, his brains, looks, and bravery were things he was proud of because they were traits he shared with his omegan father. A man who taught him to stand up for himself as an omega. 

Maybe that’s why he was on his way to find George Eacker, a bullheaded beta with the arrogance of an alpha. 

After the things he said about the omega’s father, well Philip couldn’t let it be, regardless of his schoolyard friends insisting he might be better off letting it go. After all, Eacker just dueled a friend of his the other day and that wasn’t enough to stop him from running his mouth about families of kids practically ten years his junior. 

It was a matter of pride had that Philip going to find Eacker. He refused to be an omega pushed around by alphas and betas. His father didn’t let the other statuses bully him, and if Phillip wanted to carve his own legacy, he couldn’t let it happen to him either. 

“Hey Philip!” 

The call of two girls passing paused Philip in his determined pacing. He slowed to a near halt and turned to give the girls from the neighborhood a quick flirtatious smirk, one he’s seen his father use to get what he wanted multiple times. 

“Hello ladies,” he started in a drawl, tucking his thumbs in his belt loops. The two girls, Martha and Dolly, he was sure, both betas, grinned up at him. It wasn’t the first set of girls tripping over themselves for Philip’s attention; in fact, a lot of people adored his good looks and, well, an attractive, unmated omega was perpetually desired. 

“Have you seen George Eacker? He said some things about my father that were out of line. I need to make sure he’s set straight for it,” Philip addressed, keeping his tone light and friendly as the girls glanced to each other, muttering to each other about the last time they saw the older beta. 

“Broadway I think, he was seeing a play,” Martha decided, nodding to herself. 

“Then I’ll go pay him a visit.” It was hard to keep his tone friendly when truthfully, Phillip was furious. Reading Eacker’s rant in the paper after a friend showed him that morning did nothing for his mood. 

“God, you’re a fox,” Dolly mumbled dreamily, probably entirely without thinking, making Philip chuckle appreciatively. He might have stayed longer to hear their flattering remarks on his looks, but he had a mission. 

“Yeah? You’re not bad yourself. Why don’t we all meet back up when I’m done?” He left them with that, humming when they excitedly giggled. Honestly, he wasn’t really interested in seeing them again, but he was taught flirting and keeping your options open got you better results. 

Except when he was standing up for his family. 

Then you were to be precise with your attacks, and willing to pull every stop to win. At least, that’s what his dad always did. 

“Hey Eacker!” 

Walking in the theatre was probably rude, but he wasn’t thinking about the other people in the audience; he wanted to call the beta out to press the audience into believing it was his fault for the disruption. 

After all, the second time he repeated himself, Eacker was suddenly quick to stand up to see him face to face to get him to quiet down. 

Philip kept his head high, suddenly taken back by the height and weight Eacker had on him. His older age didn’t help make Philip feel any less of a child. He wouldn’t be bullied down, and the omega put on his best sneer. 

“What the hell do you want? Can’t you see there’s a play going, kid?” Eacker hissed, keeping his voice hush hush, but with enough hostility that Philip got the point he would have yelled if he could. 

“Yet you couldn’t see running your mouth about my father was a bad idea,” Philip snapped, getting shushed by a nearby audience member. He ignored it, standing as tall as he could and his chin held high. Not out of submissive omegan behavior, but to prove he could look the beta dead in the eye without cowering like his status would have been expected to do.

Eacker took one good long look at him and laughed sharp under his breath. Philip didn’t back down, even when Eacker slammed his finger against the middle of his chest to shove him back. The omega stumbled but stepped right back up as Eacker responded. 

“I didn’t say a damn thing that wasn’t true. Your father is a rascal omegan whore, and so are you.” 

Philip reeled with the insult, fists balling. 

“It’s like that?” He growled, making Eacker chuckle. 

“Yeah, I don’t fool around. I’m not one of your little omegan schoolboy friends.” 

The omega hated how Eacker was persistent to draw the line between himself as a beta, and Philip as an omega. How it was fine to call his entire status nothing but rambunctious whores because of traits alphas decided they had. 

“See you on the dueling grounds- unless of course, you want to step outside now,” Philip challenged, jerking his thumb behind him towards the exit. 

“Piss off,” Eacker scoffed, waving his hand dismissively at the omega, “I know where to find you. Just following the slick trail will lead me to a Hamilton.” 

Before Philip could actually strike him, an usher stepped between them. A strong looking beta with an irritated frown on his face, ready to stop the scene before it escalated too far. After all, if Eacker hit an omegan boy back, his reputation would be sullied, and Philip would have been treated in the public eye as a trouble maker. Dueling was the best option to settle the urge to punch Eacker respectfully. 

“Please sit down or leave.” 

“Don’t worry, I was just going,” Philip grumbled, turning to the door. 

\--

“Dad, he was just- so- arrogant!” Philip growled out of frustration, flailing his hands as he spoke. “The things he said! Just because he’s some knotless alpha-wanna-be, trying to discredit us just for being omegas. The things alone he said about you! How can anyone even _believe_ him?”

Hamilton looked tired, sitting at the table with a cup of tea and the newspaper before him. Unknowingly to Philip, he had already heard about Eacker, but hadn’t felt the urge to fight with a man half his age. Though he was startled when Philip first came in slamming doors and yelling about the situation. 

“You need to slow down and take a deep breath.”

Philip paused from pacing around the kitchen, his shoulders slumping at his father’s suggestion. He met Hamilton’s eyes with a defeated frown, making his father lean over to pull out the chair next to him. He practically dropped his body in the chair, elbows on the table propping his head up as he stared down at the table cloth. 

Hamilton pushed his tea cup over to him, urging Philip to take a sip to calm his nerves down before he tried again to explain himself. 

The younger omega took a drink, wincing at the cooled down bitter liquid. He liked his tea much sweeter than his father did. Hamilton always told him it was a taste that would change with age. 

“Now, what happened?” Hamilton pressed, reaching to put his hand on his son’s neck. He lightly squeezed as the tension in Philip’s body language started to melt. 

“I challenged him to a duel, and well, I never been in a duel before.” 

He tilted his head to look at his father, expecting approval, expecting him to be impressed by his bravery and determination to defend their family name. Instead Hamilton’s lips were pursed, obviously not thrilled to hear the news as Philip thought he would have been. After all, he was doing this for them. 

“Did your friends negotiate a peace?” Hamilton spoke with a calmness he learned when talking to his children. Philip picked up on the forced calmness as the same one his dad used on his baby brothers and sisters. After being talked down to all day, he wasn’t appreciative of the condescending tone. 

“He wouldn’t apologize. I’m telling you, he’s a knot-”

“Where is this happening?” Hamilton squeezed his neck, digging his thumb at the unmarked bond site. It was a known trick to calm an omega down that Philip would have protested, but he just slumped further against his father’s reassuring touch. 

“Jersey,” Philip answered, letting his eyes slip shut as Hamilton began to pull his hand back. 

“Everything is legal in New Jersey,” they both remarked differently, Hamilton more saddened, Philip proudly at the loophole. 

His father scratched at his own cheek, clicking his tongue as he thought what to say. 

“Alright, this is what you are going to do. You need to stand in front of Eacker like a man, statuses aside; on the dueling ground you’re equals. When the duel starts, you aim your gun in the air and fire. It’ll end the battle without any blood.”

Philip stood straight up, disbelief on his face. “What if he decides to shoot? I’m a goner!” 

“No.” Hamilton spoke firmly, shaking his head. “No, if he’s truly a man of honor, he’ll follow suit. Please, Philip. Taking a man’s life isn’t something you can just get over. Your mother can’t take any more heartbreak.” 

“Father…” The younger omega’s entire perspective shifted just by hearing how troubled his father’s words were. He could never begin to understand Hamilton’s time in the war, but if killing someone in a duel wasn’t the respectable thing to preserve his honor like he thought, he could at least follow his father’s advice to get out of it. 

Hamilton scooted his chair out from the table and pulled Philip into a hug, holding the other omega close. 

“Promise me, promise me you won’t do that to yourself. You don’t want blood on your hands.” 

Philip frowned, patting his father’s back to reassure him. “I promise, dad.” 

“Come back home as soon as it’s over. You can take my guns. Just, be smart. Make me proud, son.” Hamilton leaned back, patting Philip’s cheek until he pulled him in to kiss the top of his head.

\---

Philip felt anxious. There was none of the pride and determination he had before, just raw nerves fluttering in his stomach. He was lucky he didn’t vomit that morning. 

“Are you ready?” His second asked, understanding the uneasiness Philip was feeling. 

He tried to swallow it back, laughing with borrowed confidence. “No problem, I’m a Hamilton with pride. He won’t get away with talking like that,” Philip remarked slyly, keeping his head up high as he went forward to meet Eacker.

How long was he there already? Philip wasn’t sure, but Eacker looked annoyed. Maybe just from being up so early? 

“Mister Eacker! Was your show good?” Philip realized he comment might have came across as snarky, but the way of his stomach turned was enough to reassure himself he meant it as pleasantly as possible. Anything to put Eacker in a better mood. Anything to make sure he wouldn’t kill him. 

“I’d rather skip the pleasantries,” Eacker sneered, waving him along. “Grab your pistol, let’s go already.” 

Philip licked his lips nervously, a little disoriented that they were skipping the general social rules of dueling that his father had pressured him into knowing in preparation. 

They counted out ten steps, Philip keeping his gun close to his chest until he turned on his heel and could look Eacker in the eye. 

“One, two,” they counted as Philip began to raise his gun in the air. By seven, his arm was straight up, but Eacker misunderstood, maybe he didn’t care. He saw Philip’s arm move and he shot. 

By eight, the word barely left Philip’s lips as he crumpled to the ground. His own shot rang up to the heavens, finger having automatically pulled the trigger when he fell down. 

His second and the doctor rushed to him, but his eyes were already closed by nine. 

By ten he blacked out.

\---

When Phillip woke up, hazily aware of the pain rippling in his body, noises seemed distant. He could feel someone touching him. There were lights blurring together, figures rushing around him. 

He groaned, turning his face into the pillow, slowly becoming aware of his location, the events that lead to it. The pain in his hip and his arm… 

“Philip!” 

“H-hey, pa,” Philip smelt his father’s scent before he could actually process seeing him. “I did what you said. Held my head… up high.” He murmured, wanting to make sure his father understood he wasn’t here because he disobeyed. 

Hamilton was taken back, but quickly he shook his head and started to brush Philip’s hair out of his face.

“Shh, I know.” 

It wasn’t long before his mother showed up, another set of hands touching him, reminding him how sore his body was. He didn’t say anything, about how the blood loss made him woozy, making his body feel on fire and cold at the same time. 

He tried to keep his parents calm, knowing what they knew. His chances of making it were slim, not with the blood loss. But they were fighting again, his mother demanding to know why his father let this happen. Philip couldn’t stress enough it wasn’t Alexander’s fault, but he was shushed, told to save his strength, to stay alive. 

It was a long day, they stayed by his side, and a lot of that time he just couldn’t keep his eyes open. 

At least death was peaceful, surrounded by his parents, his siblings, his friends. 

At least he got to say goodbye.

**Author's Note:**

> this is probably the second favorite fic of this series for me. I had a lot of fun and my editor was crazy mad at me for making her so sad. PS the entire story is done. What's left to write is the spinoff ending! So feel free to hit kudos or comment and read the rest of the series! Thoughts and questions can go to my inbox or comment below, I reply to basically everything out of respect and adoration you actually commented,,,
> 
> check out my tumblr for more at pyrogavinofree.tumblr.com


End file.
